Mark Korven

Mark Korven established himself as a film and television composer in the 1990s, where his work became known for its dark, hybrid orchestral-electronic textures aimed at horror, science-fiction, and thriller projects. After an initial screen credit on the 1987 comedy I've Heard the Mermaids Singing, he received further opportunities through Cube in 1997, the 2000 thriller Falling Through, and a series of documentaries whose serious themes aligned with his emerging style. Between 2008 and 2010 he contributed to the crime series The Border, and the independent horror feature The Witch achieved modest commercial success in 2016. Subsequent scores, including those for Our House in 2018 and The Lighthouse in 2019, began to appear as standalone soundtrack albums.

Born in Winnipeg, Canada, Korven developed an early passion for loud rock music and took up the guitar before reaching his teenage years. By seventeen he was performing in local bars with several bands. His listening habits broadened to encompass jazz fusion and progressive rock, prompting him in 1977 to enroll at Grant MacEwan College in Edmonton for studies in jazz arranging and composition. After completing the program in the early 1980s he returned to cover-band work as a substitute guitarist while starting to compose original material.

In 1984 Korven issued his first album, Passengers, on Rave Records. He moved to Duke Street for the 1987 release Ordinary Man. That year he also supplied his debut film score for the Canadian comedy-drama I've Heard the Mermaid's Singing. A final solo album, This Must Be the Place, appeared in 1992, yet growing film assignments—among them Sam & Me (1991), The Michaell Apts. (1994), and the science-fiction feature Cube (1997)—shifted his focus toward scoring. He additionally worked on the revived Twilight Zone television series during this period.

The 2000s opened with the thriller Falling Through and the drama Saint Jude, both released in 2000. Television projects included Hollywood Wives: The New Generation (2003) and Terrorised by Teens: The Jonathan Wamback Story (2005). He continued scoring documentaries and the series The Border (2008-2010) before returning to features with Robert Eggers’ The Witch in 2016. Its atmospheric, dissonant music was issued by Milan and opened the door to larger assignments. Awakening the Zodiac arrived in 2017, followed in 2018 by the Lakeshore release of his Our House score. Sacred Bones then put out his music for the 2019 horror-fantasy The Lighthouse, which starred Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson.